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Skull Lord uses Skull of Bonechilling Fear!
1d20+15 vs. Dardek Will = 34 (Dardek, your will defense isn't in the block I'm assuming a 34 is a hit, but do me a solid and put it in on your next turn.)
1d6+3 Cold Damage = 6 Damage
Dardek is pushed 5 squares

Jack has confidence in Siali to protect the mayor, but moves towards her anyway, determined to kill the skeletal mage before he does something tricky.

He runs around the combatants, taking any opportunistic strikes that may come his way, before sliding in front of the skull lord and bringing his sword in full circle. The wild blade ripped the theif in half and struck a blow both against Jack's intended target as well as the poor skeleton who happened to be behind him. Jack, letting the momentum carry him, let his blade travel again, this time the mage dodging the blow before Jacks blade surged forward, shattering one of his two skulls.

Not yet satisfied, the warforged turned around, chopping the skeleton behind him clearly in half, and leaped at another, striking a clean blow.

Move to E-5, taking an opportnity attack from Skeleton C and B, as well as from the red hand guy.
Standard: Persistant Frenzy

Encounter ✦ Primal, Weapon
Standard Action Close burst 1
Target: Each creature in burst you can see
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Special: If you use this power while raging, roll a d20. On a 10 or higher, you retain the use of this power.

The Skull Lord loses another of his two skulls, which bursts in a small necrotic explosion, leaving him with only one head, like the most of men.

The remaining skeletal tomb lord targets Jack, deciding to stick with it's charge rather than run away, bones clattering, despite the fact that jack just flew around the room like some kind of goddamn wire fighting Iron Giant. The Tomb Guardian launches four scimitars at Jack.

Time slows to a crawl. This is where it could all collide Siali thinks. She looks around. The Skull Lord is ignoring her, her friends are busy. It has to happen. I wish this could go some other way, she thinks, but I'm not ready to give up just yet. No hard feelings. She drops her signature dagger and pulls out one of the more common ones and quickly slices a wide gash in the mayor's throat, leaving the dagger in. She pauses for a moment and calls out "I cant heal her... she's too far gone!"

Edgil waves his hand at the remaining tomb guardian, creating the image of a rabid housecat flying at the skeleton's face. For a moment the skeleton looks as though he'll ignore it, but suddenly he begins cutting himself with his flailing swords as he tries to bat away the illusory feline.

Though the barbarian had tired of Aziz' insistence on drilling and practice, it was moments like these -- when the dragonborn's bold strikes and parries made the opening for Jack's sword to shatter an empty, brittle skull -- that it was all worth it.

"Ha! You see?"

Then again, Aziz tended to gloat whenever they pulled off a practiced technique.

Already next to the enemy, Jack swings his blade once again, sure to kill it. Alas, he has become a little dizzy from all of his jumping and spinning around, and the blade goes wide, leaving an opening for the creature.

The skull lord falls and brings with it a ringing silence as you all come to realize the mayor is not returning to her feet, a wide gash in her throat leaking blood out in a large pool. A normal dagger lies next to the mayor, it must have been the Brigand's.

Guards start to make their way into the tower room, looking around and trying to piece together what has happened.

In this case, yup. If this was something an enemy had done and wasn't being narrated openly, you would have had to make these rolls to even have a chance of noticing, and the fact that you as a player are aware of the other player's actions and can thus form an argument on why you should just know shouldn't preclude your need to make these checks.

And yes, the DCs are high, but consistent with unraveling the plot of an uncommonly good rogue based on the checks she made.

Further, I wouldn't describe a count of how many mundane daggers a person carries on their belt versus their signature special daggers is "Obvious" unless you're Batman. It's like playing Scene It where after a movie clip it asks you how many candles were on the table.

Aziz did his duty in showing the guards their adventuring charter, and explaining their business with the Mayor that had brought them there. Though he informed them factually of the Trolls and the Knights' promise to the Mayor, he couldn't keep himself from being quite upset at the current situation.

"Damnit." Aziz shook his head. "This is a disgrace. What did we do wrong?"

The warlord shouldered his shield and sheathed his sword, barely able even to glance at the Mayor. Instead, he regarded the body of the brigand that lay on the floor.

"This bastard killed Moonstair's chief official and cost us twenty-five-hundred gold pieces, Knights. Having failed to protect their Mayor, it's improper for us to demand reward money from Moonstair's people as far as the Trolls are concerned. I'll have no argument on that from any of you. The Troll King is a much more pressing concern. But perhaps after we get rid of this Skalmad, we can see about settling the debt with this brigand's red-handed friends.

"I'll be in my quarters. Don't wake me unless it's important... we need to head out early tomorrow."

With a nod to the group Aziz descended the stairs, the guardsmen of Moonstair granting him a wide berth.

The guards accept Aziz's explanation and carry the mayor out of her quarters to be buried, cursing the horrors that invaded their town.

"Might leave tomorrow, I might" a citizen is overheard saying. "If our soldiers can't keep these types out, what chance 'ave we got against a great bunch of Trolls? Think I'll go get packed up now and catch the first Caravan out of town."

Jack sheaths his large sword and stares at the mayors corpse as it is being dragged out, a little late to notice her demise through all of the action. He places one large hand over his eyes and thinks If we haden't taken the time downstairs to rest, would we have made it in time? He of course does not relay this to the party, as such thoughts do nothing but hinder their progress, and his large hand on Siali's shoulder.

"You tried, there wasn't anything that could be done.... We will avenge her. We must."

I decided to roll anyway even though I coulden't possibly make the check, and it turns out that Jack is blisfully ignorant of the events:

Edgil looks over the bodies of the brigand and the skull lord for anything interesting. Once satisfied, he makes for the stairs. "So, we're not getting paid then?," he says, finally noticing that the mayor is dead. "That's a shame."

He looks at his comrades, and pauses longer than is comfortable on Siali. "Too bad the killer couldn't wait until we were done."

I'll take 10 on perception to search the bodies if I can. And for the Siali subplot:

Dardek slung his hammer on his belt and his shield on his back, watching them take the mayor away. He looked at his group, gauging their reactions. Something wasn't right, he was certain of that. However, now was not the time to accuse. Now, as in all times of tragedy, was the time to heal.

"My friends, I will meet you back at our lodgings. There is work to be done for a priest this night, and I fear my hesitation may have cost us the mayor's life."

Before taking his rest for the night, he would take the time to bless and pray over the area in which the mayor was killed, to remove the taint of Orcus, and then he would try and do the same for the mayor's body before going to sleep.

You awake the next morning and are introduced to Amir, the unreasonably young human captain of the town watch and the newly deputized mayor. It was well known that Kalena valued politics over military strength in her town, and the young captain, barely a man grown, is evidence of that.

"Right, well" his voice cracks slightly. "I heard your doing this for charity now, we take that as a kindness. Anyhow... you'll have to be finding Skalmad. His lair is known as the Great Warren, and it's located somewhere within the Trollhaunt, a region of bogs, thickets and low-forrested ridges around Moonstair. Unfortunatley, the only people who know it's exact location are dead, so you've a search on your hands.

We don't have any magical assistance to offer you, though you may help yourself to any mundane equipment in our armory. I suggest you move out quickly, I suspect Skalmad's hand in Kalena's death"

Note: I'm sort of assuming you've completed your errands in town and are ready to move on, let me know if this assumption is incorrect.

An ancient stone road leads east from Moonstair through dense,
damp woodlands that soon give way to stretches of fog-shrouded
marsh. This is the Trollhaunt, a region of bogs, thickets, and
low forested ridges that runs for miles. An hour’s march east of
Moonstair, the old road gives out, disappearing into a great bog.
Faint footpaths lead off to either side, but you soon find yourself
in a maze of sluggish streams, meandering trails, and impen-
etrable brush.

Skill Challenge: Finding the Trollhaunt Warrens!
Complexity: 2 (6 Successes Before 3 Failure)
Meta-Infromation:
This Skill Challenge Uses Endurance, Nature and Perception as it's primary skills, and History/Nature as Secondary Skills, but if you can come up with a good reason for another skill to be used, please do so.

Skill Descriptions, for purposes of this challenge:
Endurance: Not giving up on finding your quary, and looking well longer than others might in your place. This check can be made as a group.
Perception: Finding a good vantage point to study your surroundings and get your bearings
Nature: By reading the land, you might find your way towards the higher ground where the warren supposedly lies.
Nature (Lesser): Looking for Troll Tracks and other clues to where skalmads forces might go
History: Recollection of old maps and other information to help you in your search.

So this skill challenge takes place over 2 days or more, depending on how it goes. We don't have to roll initiative, but everyone make a relevant check (or an unrelevant one, if you have a good reason for it) and describe what you're doing.

"You know, bogs like this have been known to ...[35 minutes of rambling exposition]... so I think if we pay attention to what kinds of plants we're seeing, we may be able to deduce the direction of Skalmad's warren."

Edgil... you really must learn the difference between knowledge and history. Bogs and plants and various fascinating aspects of nature aside, the old Vandar Kingdom was located further west than you're recollecting. Perhaps in the direction of that very large monolith over there, the one that's marked on the old maps?

"Let's push onward, Knights. The longer we tarry, the less of our strength we shall have when we find these Villains."